Adam Burgess

Fixed my own, and others' Korg RH3 keybed many times. It is sooo well built, and properly modular. Everything can be replaced; from the plastic frames that hold everything to the chassis, to the hammers and tops, the contact boards, the springs, the keys… Pleasure to work on! Wish you all the best! Self destruction is a worrying thing - but plastics do get brittle after time. Maybe if right to repair ever becomes a proper law, manufacturers will have to think of a way to make these plastic parts interchangeable/provide 3D print files, without them being cloned. That's quite a tough one.

And sometimes, it will be an active DI which is why we still need phantom power

I dunno. Most I can get used to. But, the almost perfect keyboard for me; the Arturia Keylab II 88* just let me down. It bottomed out horribly, and I tried for months. Solo, recodring, and live. The only other one I have a real problem with is the Nord Electro's keybed. I could play better organ on a Stage 2, which I loved. *(also on a couple of Numas?)

Those adapters/couplers in a long solid metal block are not a good idea hanging out the back of an instrument or a speaker. Trying to use one with a wedge or small mixer makes me cringe. On the floor as a line adapter, yes. Could you even fit one on the back of a wedge? The cables and angle would be a tipping point on mixer on top of a keyboard. I agree, but, you'd have few 1 foot flying leads; XLRs are everywhere on a gig. Extend as you need. I've got a homemade collection of of every gender of XLR to XLR, and splits, 1/'4" female jack to/from XLR M/F etc. Take up no room, but very handy. So long as I have those, an XLR > XLR will always do. All my jacks from keys are L-shaped and supported to the stand somehow.

Sure you'll be happy with it! It's always a nice moment when you hear in your ears what you want to in your head 🙂 Best wishes to you and the band!

True. Bose 802s used to use XLR for speaker level…

What's worse is a Stereo 1/8" TRS jack to a Mono 1/4" Balanced TRS jack into a mono (bal/unbal) input…

I've used one belonging to the sax player for small semi-acoustic pub gigs. (Keys, sax, acoustic guitar, and vocals) They work fine, for sure. Not pretty and don't blow you away, but, for that price - worth a go to use for rehearsals. Oh, and as far as using a jack to XLR cable from your mixer, they're common, and will work fine. https://www.thomann.ae/sommer_cable_stage_22_sg04_1000_sw.htm for example.

Yes, some days, you just feel more 'on-it' and every risk taken works haha. Wish I'd had some of those bits recorded, for sure. I guess a Zoom recorder would be a handy little thing to have around anyway… sucker for little gadgets. In the other thread, I mentioned that sometimes I contemplate taking my little Korg i3 for some drum bits… but, then I just think taking an iPad only is easier!

Never seen one in the wild. Guess they weren't a thing in the UK. Was all Quik Lok for me late 80s into the 90s. Then I could afford K&M 😛 Then I must've gone mad and made a Gibraltar! And, that IS customisable - although, 20x the weight by the looks of that Invisible!

I'm not worried about spending and money, I know that it's loud enough for the paying customers who are there. They have stuff to use, anyway, if really needed; just no idea how to deploy it. Having said that, I've often thought of getting a really nice mic to record with. I've always got a laptop and a small interface with me. And, yes - depending which guy they get to come and do the flowers in this lobby every couple of weeks, there's often a selection of very nice vases and plants on top of the piano… I just rearrange them… Rearrange them off the piano. They don't like the 20º lid angle any more than the 45º 🙂. I'll just stay out of the way of these ever changing managers who come down from on high twice a year, get paid, and go home. Cause no bother. I should get angry at the amount of times they can't turn off the BGM above my head, but, it pays the rent, and good practise playing everything in every key for fun. And the longer it takes, the less I play, although sitting around like a spare part does annoy me.

Few random thoughts! Don't get overwhelmed, and just support your own singing to start. Same applies to supporting guitar solos etc. Supporting other things is definitely a keys players' thing. Block chords will work fine for now on a Hammond sound to fill in some sonic gaps. Expression pedal is a must, I think. With Grade 8, your fingers can obviously work very well independently. Listen to any keys riffs/melodies on the tracks, and sure you could manage very well. Learn what a square wave/sine wave synth sounds like, don't be afraid of not playing anything, esp. with singing. Simple pads are cool and the bassists and guitarist won't hate you, but it will make a difference if you drop out. Anyway, good luck - it's a great keyboard. Sure you have the chops. Have fun.

I kind of wish everything was on PowerCon for mains, and XLR for audio. I know Sennheiser mic receivers are fine with +48V - I would expect Shure AND the big keys manufacturers to be the same. But, it seems not. I had a Roland XP50 back in the day, which got its ground thru the audio connection (only a 2 pin mains in), and a dodgy venue's power killed the power supply. Electrical stuff just needs to be safe, on a component level, as well as for us beings on stage.

Luckily, a lot of power issues, at least in 240V land are less frequent as amplifiers are much more efficient than old stacks of heavy-iron 5000W Crowns etc. Lighting with LED, also. But all these high-freq. switching power supplies leak a lot of stuff to ground and this causes a different problem tripping breakers for different reasons. Having said that, a Kronos at full tilt draws a mighty 36W, another keyboard, a MacBook, and possibly a sub-mixer will hardly tip the scales. We keys players are easy.

When I was younger, I used to put up with it! But, I learned enough about electricity, and the gig doesn't go on unless I'm happy. Don't mind walking away these days! "You're running ALL OF THAT from the same socket??" "???" "Nah. I'll go home unless you get a REAL electrician." You learned that these frayed power extensions have been heated and deformed within an inch of their lives by the kitchen staff and lighting/LED screen guys simultaneously 🤪 As for this venue being suited to music, this one suits a baby grand played quite softly.

Once you know where your files are gonna be residing and they're there… On the Mac, you can option-click the app so it forces it to use a new library. Not sure about the Windows version, sorry. And, yes, don't move anything in the sub-folders or it will get very confused!

My M-Audio el-cheapo expression pedals finally snapped and exploded with all the Christmas/NY gigs. They did great for a number of years, but stand on 'em you can't. Bit a bullet and got a couple of Boss FV500s. Had these years ago and they lasted a long time. Love the feel of them. Also, for some reason while scrolling thru Amazon, I got a Streamdeck XL, which I'm sure will come in handy for something on gigs/QLab/Mainstage/digi mixers…!

I never found the Playback plug-in to be any good. Was unpredictable under testing, so I went with QLab, and used that to play multitrack WAVs and send Program Changes to Mainstage/external MIDI gear. Never missed a beat so far.

Thought someone of you could relate to this, and take comfort in 'no, it happens all the time, it's not just you', I hope! 😀 Just finished an hour and half solo piano set at a hotel lobby gig I do regularly to keep me sane of an afternoon. Then one manager who I've never heard of or seen tells the maintenance guy that the piano isn't loud enough where he, the manager, is. Special gig as the big boss for the whole MENA region for a huge group of hotels came for a visit, so all the (many) managers are hovering! So, I'm playing away, there's customers all around me, having tea and cakes, nice coffees etc. chatting away. Some friends, some business going on, some waiting to check in/out…|| Been playing here two years and no one has ever mentioned mic-ing up the piano. Well, the mic came later, two guys underneath the piano looking for a jack connection… "It's acoustic, guys. I can play louder, but these tables close to me may not be happy if they can't hear themselves. I've been here many afternoons in two years, and know where I should be volume-wise." Off they shuffle. Come back 10 mins later with a powered speaker and a lav radio mic. Speaker goes under the piano. After lots of bass feedback, they kind of shuffle away again leaving a very hot lav mic just dangling over the music stand pointing vaguely at the strings and other mechanics in there. So, now the piano is 4 times as loud, at the piano, then the piano is supposed to be - and sounds dreadful. The sound still doesn't travel around the corner where this manager is. Before I have the chance to finish the tune I'm doing, and just turn it off, a waitress is over telling me I'm too loud, of course. "Yes, I'm sorry. I'm aware!" Then, try to explain to the 'sound guy' (poor lad, it's not his fault, really), that if the sound isn't in a certain area, then THAT area needs a speaker. I can go full lid and belt the thing if it's not loud enough HERE! But - it is!!! Losing battle. But pays ok and on time, it's steady, and currently in the little bar next door having a quick beer, getting this off my chest before another half hour set before I'm done for the day. Have a great day!

If I'm travelling, it's almost always for a gig, so keyboards are a necessity! But, on holiday, I'd quite happily carry on my Korg i3. A keyboard that punches well above its tiny weight. Paid for itself in an hour and continues to keep me in beer tokens. Can fit normal traveling stuff in its case that won't go in a laptop bag, and still weighs next to nothing.

Not read the whole thread, but some random thoughts… If it was easy, everyone would do it and it wouldn't be as special. It can be tough, and you can only get better by playing with people better than you. Let them drag you along and be proud of you. If you play well, and simply - nothing will be so horrendous that you would ever get fired for. Don't be afraid to just play a shaker on a tune if you can't find a part to fit. Any good musicians worth playing with will encourage you. Bonus points if the bandleader can give you guidelines if you're stuck for things to do. Musically, and for reasons of texture/timbre, there's so much a simple pad in the right range can enhance a guitar/sax solo. A one note string line soaring over the top of a busy arrangement can lock the whole sound together. That one fill which covers just the right 3 seconds of a four minute tune as 'a flash of brilliance' is worth it. You will 'plateau' regarding 'ability', but one day - things you longed to do become easy. Takes time and practice. But, know what you're longing for. From the posts of yours I've read, you're diligent, use pro equipment, care about what you bring to the band and sound. I'm sure that you turn up prepared as you can be, on time, and are fun to play with. These things matter lots!!

Do those Roland A-boards not work on a similar principle to the old Edirol controllers, where MIDI would only work if the power switch was in a certain place and external power was applied, or something equally ridiculous? Strange that one of the original manufacturers involved in MIDI would do these things!

I'm off to do a couple of sets solo piano in an hour, I have a nice Frank Sinatra Duets book or two which are nice to play (around with). First set of 45 will be one of those almost cover to cover 🙂 I'll make it last 45. Often thought about taking my lovely little Korg i3 to 'modernise stuff(?)' a bit, but then I think I'll just carry an iPad.

Been using 12VDC 5A 'CCTV' power supplies from Amazon for a few years now powering mic recievers/IEM transmitters/Audio and MIDI interfaces/controllers. (incl. Sennheiser/iConnectivity/Arturia etc.) They're cheap, have an IEC input, and 5A is plenty enough. My sax player's rack has had one powering 2x mic receivers and the wireless access point for her XR18 on 100s of gigs. Great for her as she just plugs 1x PowerCon in, an XLR to her Bose or the sound guy and she's ready to go. All my low voltage stuff at home is also powered by a couple mounted in my studio desk. Been on 24/7 for years.

I love my take on it haha Infinitely adjustable. Only very annoying once. But at home, I have a Hercules Z-Stand with the second tier where the 'boards can touch if need be. And, the arms are quite deep front to back so screens etc. are visible.